Making a difference

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Just because you can’t see how far your reach spreads doesn’t mean you make no difference.  –J.C. Rutledge

But wouldn’t it be great if we really could see how far our reach spreads?  Because I’m an overly morbid worrywart type, I often wonder about the kind of legacy I’ll leave one day.  I think I think about it so much because my mom died so young, and I’ve always assumed (don’t ask me why) that the same fate waits for me.

Happily, fate seems to have other plans in store for me, because I’m still here, creating worlds and refereeing my kids.  I’m so very grateful I have the chance to watch them grow up, and I can’t wait to see what kind of people they’ll become.

(c) 2015.  All rights reserved.

More things I like

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IMG_20130828_121254And now, because I thought of a bunch more things I like after my post the other day, here are some more things I like:

  1. A clear sky full of stars.
  2. Sunny days.
  3. Singing (badly) ’90s boy band songs in the car at the top of my lungs.
  4. Learning everything.
  5. Watching my children sleep.
  6. Pickle wraps.
  7. Lazy weekends.
  8. Listening to Cricket and Thumper “read” stories to me.
  9. The smell of old books.
  10. Bad jokes.

What about you? Share some things you like below!

(c) 2015. All rights reserved.

Hope

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Invincible (Five album)

Invincible (Five album) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Yesterday I was driving to work when “Keep On Movin'” by 5ive came on the radio. As I’d just read a post by rarasaur that caused this particular song to resonate with me more than it might have otherwise, and I decided it should be my theme song. If not forever, at least for the day.

Don’t know it? The chorus goes like this:

Get on up when you’re down
Baby, take a good look around
I know it’s not much, but it’s okay
Keep on movin’ on anyway

You can find the full lyrics at Google Play. They also have the whole song, which I highly recommend. 🙂

It’s such an uplifting, feel-good kind of song! I was in a good mood all day after hearing it. Between the song and the bright, sunny morning, I was full of hope by the time I reached work. But it didn’t stop there – I felt so much lighter all day long. And when I left for home last night, it was back on the radio again.

I may or may not have sung along as loudly as I could. 🙂

And now it’s your turn – what makes you hopeful? Do you have a personal theme song?

(c) 2015. All rights reserved.

Things I Like

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2015-07-08 13.18.58It’s another list today. Why? Well, because I’ve been reading Things We Like I think it’s pretty cool. Also? I’m in the midst of revising not one, but two WIPs, and my brain is a little fried. Also also? Life is crazy right now, and a list of things I like seems like something I can manage.

Short, sweet, and to the point. At least that’s the theory.

So, without further ado, here are some things I like:

  1. Writing. I love to write stories. I love to write poems. I love to write anything and everything under the sun.
  2. Reading. I love books. I loved reading them as a kid, I love reading them now, and I love writing my own.
  3. Music. I used to spend hours playing my flute, but I haven’t practiced regularly in a very long time. I should get back to that.
  4. Photography. I come from a family of shutterbugs. When I was growing up, Grandpa didn’t look quite right unless he had a camera up to his face. My childhood was very well documented, and my children are growing up the same way.
  5. Video editing. I like making home movies out of the many video clips on my phone. It’s a fun way to spend an afternoon, and a great way to look back on things I’ve forgotten.

How about you? What things do you like?

(c) 2015. All rights reserved.

I write because…

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nostalgiaI write because…

  1. I have a story to tell.
  2. I want to discover what and how and why I think.
  3. I need an adventure.
  4. I crave an escape.
  5. I can’t not write.

What about you – why do you write?

(c) 2015.  All rights reserved.

Time to write like there’s no tomorrow!

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Happy November!

Yes, it’s November, otherwise known as Time-To-Write-Like-There’s-No-Tomorrow-Month!  And that’s exactly what I’ll be doing, too.  I may not be participating in NaNoWriMo this year (though I thought about doing my own unofficial version), but I did sign up for NanoPoblano and a couple of Blogging U. courses, plus I’m revising a short story and rewriting the last little bit of The Lokana Chronicles.

TPMTLCAccording to Facebook, I’ve been working on The Lokana Chronicles for a decade now.  That’s simultaneously scary, impressive, and depressing.  When I started writing it, I had a different husband, a different name, and three less kids.  So much about my life has changed since I started writing this book, including the book itself.  What started off as one book has now become two books, and what started life as a sequel has now become the third book in a trilogy.  I never dreamed that, after ten years of work, I’d still be polishing the first book (hence the depressing aspect), but I’m not giving up.  I’m gonna finish this book and then the next and then the next, and then when I’m done, I’m gonna move on to something new (that will hopefully take a lot less time to finish).

In the meantime, I’ve been exiled to deep space.  I’m hoping to survive any alien encounters and have some time to write, and if you’d like to read more about my deep space adventures, then head on over to my friend Sophie’s blog and check it out.  She’s launched quite a few people into deep space over the last several months, and everyone’s had a pretty fantastic time drifting through the final frontier.

And now I think I’ll scamper off to bed.  I really enjoyed that extra hour of sleep I got last night, but boy am I ever tired now!

(c) 2015.  All rights reserved.

Trees? Yes, trees!

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With me today is another new author, Sam Smith.  His debut novel, Trees, releases on October 31 from Safkhet Publishing.  Take it away, Sam!

My thanks to Kay Kauffman for asking me to guest on her blog.

Although I’ve done many things sub-literary in my writing life – organised poetry festivals and book fairs, run a small press, Original Plus, and for nearly 20 years now the poetry magazine The Journal (once ‘of Contemporary Anglo-Scandinavian Poetry’); and although I’ve had many publishers of my work, 2 of which went disastrously bust while I was working as editor for them, Safkhet Publishing is the first that has suggested that I be a guest blogger.

treesThe novel by the way is Trees and Safkhet are based in Germany.

I’m based in the UK on the Cumbrian coast. Maryport describes itself as ‘By the sea near the Lakes.’ Not wholly sure
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Interview time!

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Today I have with me Robert Eggleton, author of Rarity from the Hollow, here to tell us about himself and his work.

KK: So, Robert, tell us about yourself.

roberteggletonRE: I would love to tell your readers rags to riches story, Kay, but the best I can do is a rags to almost middle income story. In 1951, I was born into an impoverished family in West Virginia. I started paying into the U. S. Social Security fund at age twelve and dreamed of a brighter future for my family.

In the 8th grade, I won the school’s short story contest. “God Sent” was about a semi truck driver so consumed with theological debate that he caused a terrible accident. As it often does, life got in the way of my dream of becoming a writer. Except for a poem published in the state’s student anthology and another poem published in a local alternative newspaper, my creative juices were spent writing handouts for civil rights and anti-war activities.

After earning an MSW in 1977, children’s rights and protection became my cause. I focused on children’s advocacy for the next forty years. In 2002, I started a job as a psychotherapist at the local mental health center, and five months ago, I retired from my job so that I could write and promote fiction. It wasn’t a clean escape though. I had to make a deal with my conscience. Author proceeds have been donated to a child abuse prevention program.

KK: And Rarity from the Hollow?  What’s it all about?